My Sunday Adventure

First, this morning I set out for my run. I needed to get at least 10 miles in today to reach my mileage goal for the week. I was aiming for 15 because that’s what my long run was supposed to be, but 10 was my minimum.

Until recently, I was never confident enough to run in just my sports bra. I always envied women who did, and wished that I could. But I always felt like things were jiggling on me that shouldn’t be jiggling, and I just didn’t feel comfortable. But I overcame that fear! I realized that nothing jiggles on me, and even if it did, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that I was out there, busting my butt every day to make myself healthier and stronger. And if I was getting overheated in my shirt, then darn it, I wasn’t going to keep it on.

So a couple runs ago I peeled off the shirt and was surprised how confident and comfortable I felt (mentally and physically).

Unfortunately, there are some unforeseen ramifications of my newfound sports bra running…

On my long runs, I wear a Camelbak so I can carry my water with me. I LOVE my Camelbak and don’t want to or like using anything else. Handheld water bottles annoy me (I like having my hands free), and hydration belts bounce around and feel really awkward. Sure, the Camelbak moves around a little bit, but it’s never bothered me. And I like that I can carry 1.5 liters of water with me for my run.

However, my Camelbak and running in a sports bra are not the best match.

I ended up having to cut my run short at just 8 miles today due to the CRAZY INSANE CHAFING on my lower back. The combination of bare skin, a pack shifting around and salty sweat is a very, very bad one.

I want to be able to continue running sans-shirt and with my Camelbak, so I’ve got to find a solution that will work in that scenario. I know I can use the Bodyglide that I use in other spots, but I’m concerned that it will rub off too quickly to really help solve the problem. The other idea I’ve had is covering my lower back in duct tape. Weird, I know, but it’s not all that uncommon actually. If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.

After I got home and showered (very painfully, I might add), I headed out to go hiking with my friend Jenn. She hasn’t hiked much recently, so we decided to do a fairly easy trail that’s extremely popular with tourists in this area. I brought my garmin with me out of curiosity and was surprised to find out that the trail is actually only about 1.25 miles long, top to bottom. Funny, it always feels longer.

We made it! (We started in the village in the background)

One reason this place is pretty popular with the tourists is that it’s one of the only (perhaps the only) mountain in the area that you can drive to the top of. So at the top there’s a picnic area with some roads and walkways and whatnot. But the trail definitely has it’s rocky and steep places. It might be short, but it’s tiring!

On our way back down.

Now that I’m home I will be spending the night laying on my stomach and flipping out at anyone who comes near me – man or dog.

You are Visitor Number

7 comments

The same thing happened to me when I ran with my camelback one time! I ran without a racerback tank on (just regular straps) and it chafed a oval shaped spot right between my shoulder blades. OUCH!!!! I learned my lesson and I only ran 5 miles…eek.

I wonder if you could put some type of fabric on the camelbak so that it doesn’t chafe. You could use the stick on velcro on the camelbak, and sew velcro on to a small piece of material, and then velcro the material on. Kind of like giving your camelbak a “shirt” instead of wearing one. And you could just do it on the side that touches your back. *shrugs* I don’t know if that would work, but it’s worth a shot.

[…] a little shifted around this week because I spent the first couple days just recovering from the horrendous chafing incident from Sunday (yikes). I was sore for probably about four days. I’ve never had anything […]